The Relation Between Bipolar Disorder and Music

Music can be a positive force in mental health. It can calm and give peace, it can impart peace of mind and provide a healthy diversion from the harshness of life. It is important to be selective in one's choices in music.

Music, for some, can be a deeply emotional experience. When one identifies with some particular music, bonds with it, the emotions being imparted are like the flow of electricity, they flow from the singer, to the CD or radio, to you, and become a part of you, deeply affect you.

Music can raise or lower moods. One can see how music could have an impact for some persons, who might already be emotionally inclined, in terms of depression and bipolar disorder.

If a child or teen listens to music most of the day, and if that music is alternatively happy, angry, deeply emotional, harsh, jumpy, you can see how emotions can be affected, and how it might contribute to highs and lows in an adolescent's mood. This seems to be the case for some children and youth who are suffering with depression or bipolar disorder, for some with ADHD.

Charged-up and Intense Music and its Affect on Emotions
Some of today's music in most genres can be intense, some is "drug-charged," cocaine-fueled (type) passion-music. It's energy level is high, and when combined with imagery from music videos, it can be an intense experience and overwhelming for the senses. Disorders of various types might be affected by the intensity of the music-media.

Hours on the ipod going to school, in school and at other times of the day, watching Internet and television music videos can weaken the mind of young girls and leave some more susceptible to mental health disorders such as bipolar disorder.

This can especially be the case for those who do not have strong or stable family ties and emotional attachments. The sexual messages of much of today's music for children and teenagers has an affect, as does the intensity. Another aspect of the retreat into a private musical world at one's fingertips is the emotional and social isolation that it can cause. Some find an escape route from unpleasant family or other situations in the fantasy of captivating music.

Long hours on the ipod can affect the mental health of children and teens.
However, this can weaken the child and teenager's ability to be able to create or imagine without some external stimulation. It weakens a child or teen's coping skills and makes him or her more vulnerable to mental health crises.

Moderation is needed in music, and parents and caregivers need to provide a variety of well-chosen wholesome musical choices to young people and to some children who are musically inclined.

Music, Psychology, Bipolar Disorder: Rage, Anger and Desperation
There can be a "rage" and "desperation" in some of the music that is popular today for young people, including alternative (rock) music, heavy metal, grunge and hard core. The mind then can have little time to rest and may be in a constant state of over stimulation. Dopamine level in the mind is overstimulated, and this can contribute to highs and lows in mood, as well as contribute to, among other things, the rage that can become a part of a child or teen's personality.

When this is combined with an unstable family life or other media influences such as violence orpornography, the combined effects can have a powerful influence on destabilizing the mood of adolescents, children and adults. While this may not be the case in all situations, when combined with other controllable lifestyle issues, the choices and intensity of the music you listen to may affect mood and contribute to bipolar disorder for some.

Conclusion on Music and Bipolar Disorder
One can conclude then, by limiting the time of exposure towards music, as well as the intensity, both in terms of emotional impact, anger level, (rock and roll may be described as an angry genre of music, a sort of protest against everything that's not right and which youthreadily internalize. Some rock takes that anger and desperation to extreme levels), and volume, it can positively impact mental health, especially for teens and young people, whose minds are forming and who are adjusting both physically and to new circumstances in life.

Attention to music can be one effective way that one can improve one's bipolar disorder symptoms profile. This can especially be true for teens, and some children. By being careful in the selection of music, toning down the volume and intensity, and by concentrating on selecting positive and mellower music, it can do much to help to improve the symptoms of many who are diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Pages Related Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar Disorder Story - Dr. Liz Miller permanently overcomes bipolar disorder through lifestyle changes, writing therapy, and mood mapping.

Dealing with Bipolar Disorder: Self Monitoring for Relapse Prevention

Bipolar Disorder Poem

About Bipolar Disorder Information and Facts

Bipolar Disorder Self Help 50 Natural Ways to Overcome Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder

Help for Bipolar Disorder - Coaching

Labeling in Psychiatry - The Medical Model of Mental Health and its Shortcomings

Bipolar Disorder Overdiagnosed

Bipolar Disorder and Children, Sharna Olfman

Bipolar Disorder Treatment - Children and Teens

Bipolar Disorder Overdiagnosed

Mood Stabilizers, Lithium - Effects and Side Effects

Bipolar Self Help (off-site)

Full article:

http://www.winmentalhealth.com/bipolar_disorder_and_music.php

Why Do I Like The Music That I Like?

Why do I like the music I like? What does your taste in music say about your personality?

I've often wondered why certain songs induce shivers up my spine, whilst others have absolutely no effect. After thinking long and hard about why this might happen, I came up with the following ideas, described below. I’d love to hear your opinions and insights on this subject too and look forward to reading them in the 
comments section below.

Sometimes we like songs because they reflect our current mood or stage in life

A song that has lyrics that are so applicable and true to your life, is more likely to send shivers up your spine. It’s the shivers linked to the excitement and adrenaline rush. For others they may get tears coming to their eyes. I believe this could be the result of someone else “getting it” and expressing what often, we find hard to express ourselves. In a way, by listening to someone else express what we are feeling, we express it 
ourselves.

A song without lyrics can also have a similar effect if the emotions in your life right now are strongly reflected by the emotions that the music evokes.

With songs that reflect our current mood or stage in life, at some point, we’ll move on to a new mood or life stage, and that song will cease to remain quite that meaningful to us. Instead it become a nostalgic song that reminds us of a certain time we once lived through.

Sometimes we like songs because they resonate with our personality

Music that never ceases to move you, no matter what mood you’re in, or what stage of your life you’re at, is more likely to be music that is in line with your personality.

I think that the music-linked-emotions that excite you consistently, reveal what you admire or strive towards in life. Let me explain what I mean with a few examples:

• If you’re moved by epic film music which builds up dramatically to a shiver-inducing climax, it may indicate that your personality is drawn towards the “build-up”; the dramatic climb towards success.
• If you love music with a strong regular beat, perhaps it could mean that in life, you like things to have regular routine. Regular and strong, like the beat of a drum. It also reminds us of the beat of the heart, and being alive, so I would suggest that listening to such music helps us feel “more alive”, whether we need this boost because we’re usually quite restrained, or whether we live life to the full already and it expresses this part of ourselves well.
• If you’re moved by soft and gentle music, it may indicate that you yourself are a gentle soul. If you admire gentleness in music form, I think it’s quite likely that you will admire gentleness in people too.
• If you’re moved by vocal harmonies (eg choir music): I think this symbolizes the beauty of teamwork; of people working together and of social integration. It could imply that one of the things you particularly admire in life is the social side of things.
• If you adore angry-sounding punk music, perhaps this helps you express latent anger you have, so listening to this kind of music makes you feel better and lighter for having gotten it “off your chest” through others.
• If you quite enjoy melancholic  tracks, perhaps there is a side of you that quite enjoys wallowing sometimes in the feeling of “poor me..” or for others, maybe it helps them get the melancholia out of their system through listening to it expressed in others.
• If you are really drawn to instrumental solos, I think what this says about you depends on the instrument.
  - Piano music: Although it depends on what kind of piano music you like, usually I would associate it with soft, gentle sounds, with a meaning which is quite similar to the “soft and gentle music” explanation above. A piano piece is also pure in that it is made of just one instrument. Perhaps it could mean that you admire things in their pure state. It is also an instrument played solo. Perhaps this could reflect a side of you which can enjoy being an independent lone wolf at times.
  - Acoustic guitar: This has a folky feel, often with quite a simple sound (just guitar and voice). The sound is soft and gentle, and often a little subdued (as opposed to the heavy beats of dance music or the shouts of punk music), reflecting these qualities in your personality.
  - Loud electric guitar: I associate a loud electric guitar with enthusiasm and quite intense feelings.
• If you love loud music (whichever type it is) I think this helps heighten your own emotions, whatever they may be, so it shows a joy of being able to express yourself, and a joy of basking in the *feeling*. Sometimes it can be a desire to express a side of yourself you wish you had (eg the teenager that cranks up the volume on a song he believes gives him the image he thinks is cool and attractive, even if it isn’t in line with who he really is).

I really believe that everything we like and respond to in life has more significance that it may seem. The above are just my hypotheses based on the fact that they fit with a lot of the people I know.  What do you think the music you like says about you? Feel free to discuss in the comments below.

By Li-Or in http://www.saywhydoi.com/